#hunterforbes

@hunterforbes

Caroline often worked late; had to, with a job so responsible, and if Alaric needed to work late he could always do it at home. And she had friends, sometimes had a drink across the road (never without calling to make sure everyone was okay). Sometimes, some special segment meant her work day didn’t even start until four in the afternoon, and then she was home sometimes close to midnight.

Alaric was used to her not being at home. So this shouldn’t have been any different.

What he wasn’t used to was Caroline being out on a date. So this was, actually, very, very different.

Caroline dating. Alaric was really happy for her. Really, she’d been so heartbroken for so long over Stefan that he couldn’t be anything but happy for her. And this guy, Alaric was sure he was nice.

He did a few things. Not trying to stay up, which would be weird and boundary-crossing. She was his best friend, his daughters’ mother, wow, best friend, yeah… but he didn’t have any say over her love life. He wasn’t staying up; it had just been a few days since he’d cleaned the kitchen thoroughly. And he had some marking to do. And he had a new book. Anyway, he was going to go to bed soon. After the cup of tea that was slowly going cold on the coffee table. If he was still up when she got home, then it was just because it was an absorbing book, nothing else.

He couldn’t put a finger on what was bothering him. It wasn’t the guy, not really, he’d met him once very briefly at something at Caroline’s office, when he and the girls had dropped by to bring her some lunch. He’d seemed nice enough. And it wasn’t the fact that she was over Stefan (because honestly, he wanted that for her; if Stefan ever showed up again in the future, he still wasn’t going to deserve her, any more than he had the summer he disappeared on her, refused to answer her calls, and shacked up with another woman).

If Alaric forced himself to be honest, he had to admit; if someone was going to take Caroline out on a date, he wanted that person to be himself.

When this had happened, he really didn’t know. He’d always liked Caroline, he had. She’d been a nice girl, and she’d become an amazing woman; grown up too soon, yeah, Mystic Falls did that to people. And she was a natural mother, and he loved her, yeah, he loved their family.

nick cave prompts - not accepting right now :D

@hunterforbes

She probably hasn’t even really heard herself say it, not really. Just a Caroline-ism. 

Weird sort of day, disjointed, and there’s so much to do at home. No food in the house, and one of those rare Saturdays when Caroline had to work. She’d been out the door before eight; called to Alaric through his bedroom door (in his half-awake state, he’d imagined he was waking up beside her, warm and lovely, a halo of blonde hair falling messily around her pretty face) before she disappeared into the warm morning.

He takes the girls to the park, but they’re fractious and moody and uninterested in looking at other kids or anything at all. Should do the groceries but that’s impossible on his own. Should cook up some vegetables, should... he’s tired, it’s been a long week, and he hasn’t had enough sleep.

Which is why he falls asleep on the couch, the girls sitting in the playpen nearby.

When he wakes up, it’s a little confusing, soft music playing somewhere. Caroline is in the kitchen, and there are telltale signs she’s bought groceries, and better signs she got pizza, too, and the oven on so she can reheat it. She has the girls in their high chairs at the table, catching noodles in their hammy little fists and devouring them happily.

The fact that Caroline is beautiful is so far down the list of things Alaric loves about her that it’s not even funny.

“You got groceries?”

“And pizza. I even threw a load of laundry on. You didn’t even stir. Do you love me?”

Alaric doesn’t trust his voice, but he peels himself off the couch. It’s probably not the thing to do, but he leans down, an arm around Carline’s shoulder, and kisses her hair.

five minute drabble - @carolinesnotbrokenjustbent

How no one remembered the spaghetti overnight is and remains a mystery. But there it is, wet and cooked and gluggy and completely, utterly irresistible. When Josie pokes at it with her fingers her eyes widen in delight. Lizzie’s eyes are as big as saucers too.

“What, what?”

“It’s exactly like brains!” Josie whispers (at the top of her three year old lungs).

The obvious thing to do is to dump them out on the ground and play with them in all their slimy brilliance. They’re fantastic they make good extra hair, when you don’t want to squeeze brains, and there’s some debate about taking them outside to put in the dirt and see if they’ll become worms and wriggle away (seems reasonable).

Also, they make nice jewelry. Doesn’t last long, but the girls strut around for a few minutes in spaghetti bracelets and rings and necklaces, squeezing spaghetti brains between their toes.

“What the…”

But when you’re having fun, you forget about moms and dads who don’t like mess. Josie covers her mouth with her hands and Lizzie rolls on the ground again.

Alaric looks at Caroline. She’s so cute in the mornings with her hair all messy. And he’s going to marry her.

“I’ll clean the kitchen if you clean the girls,” he says. Caroline considers the relative mess and agrees.

five minute drabble - @hunterforbes

Caroline has been funny about her birthday since she turned eighteen, or failed to. It’s awkward. Alaric hates to ignore it, no matter what she says, and it matters to the girls, who started screaming about having a party for mommy a few weeks ago and forced Alaric to show them on the calendar where it is.

And he thinks it might be different. She’s not just Caroline, eternal seventeen year old vampire. She’s the mom to two little girls whose idea of a great cake concept involves arguing about which green looks the most like puke and picking that. Asking if they put cherries in, will it look like the cake is bleeding? Lizzie spends five minutes rolling on the ground in wings and a pair of batman pajamas, speaking tongues, and explaining when she pretends she’s been poisoned she’s going to do the same thing again. Josie says nothing so she probably has something even worse planned.

Well, whatever they do, Caroline will be thrilled. She’s never anything but.

And they want it to be a little more special than usual so Alaric makes a couple of discreet phone calls, asks a couple of people from her work, and a couple of the less awful moms.

They ruin the surprise, of course. The day before, Lizzie sits up screaming in bed with a grin on her face and says she can’t believe there’s gonna be a SURPRISE PARTY!!!!!!!

But she’s forgiven. And apparently, Alaric is too. Caroline hugs him goodnight, and he kisses her hair.

@hunterforbes

Alaric was tired. Not the usual tired that parents of nearly-one-year-olds became accustomed to. He didn’t even bother with dinner, not for himself. Sure sign something was going wrong. He fed the girls, though. And thrilled as they were at their mushy chicken and vegetables, Alaric was still pretty sure most of it had ended up on their shirts, or the ceiling. They were fractious, had been all day according to the nanny.

It took longer than it should have to clean up, as well, and Alaric realized he was sort of aching. Ribs, hips, even his legs felt strange. Lizzie started to cry upstairs, and Alaric climbed them (slowly, too slowly), reaching their bedroom just in time for Josie to start as well.

He pressed his hand to Lizzie’s forehead as he picked her up. Red-faced and hot, and not just crying hot. She was sick; Josie as well. And Alaric, too, now he thought about it, and Alaric never got sick.

Damn.

He checked the time on his phone, kissing Lizzie’s cheek and wondering if he was even safe to pick them both up. He felt dizzy. Caroline had some kind of special broadcast on that night, but he was pretty sure she’d be home soon. He put Lizzie down alongside Josie – they always calmed each other a bit – and tapped out a text.

Everything has shifted just a little bit sideways, and Alaric can’t help wondering if the whole semi-official date was just a huge error in judgment, if he hasn’t really just messed things up. But he smiles when Caroline comes downstairs looking buffed and polished and gorgeous. Big day at work today, but then, most of them are, for Caroline.

She kisses the girls, who are smashing berries into their pancakes. Lizzie has a pink mark smeared across on cheek, and Caroline stoops to clean it up.

“Don’t worry,” Alaric says, still in sleep pants, suddenly wishing he’d thrown on a t-shirt. Compared to the three most beautiful girls in the world, he is a disheveled mess, and he knows it. “You have to get away early. I’ll make sure they’re cleaned up for the nanny. Promise.” Will they eventually stop trying to clean up for the nanny and let her deal with the mess when she gets there? Seems unlikely.

Of course, she’ll still be battling two-year-olds all day. It’s not like her job is what you’d call easy.

“I had fun last night,” Alaric says. Mid-week date because when the hell could they ever make time? He smiles, and she does, too, one of her old-fashioned Caroline Forbes grins.

“Me too.”

It’s not the moment to ask if they can do it again sometime.

“Go on. Don’t be late. You look beautiful. Tell mommy how pretty she looks,” Alaric tells the girls, and they shriek, Lizzie throwing a pancake in the air. “You look pretty, mommy!”

And then she’s pressed up close to him, bafflingly, dazzlingly close, and hand on his face and her lips pressed to his. It’s over before he even has a chance to react, though the shrieking from the girls stops momentarily, before starting up ten times as loud.

“Have a good day,” Alaric says. Stupidest thing he’s ever said but he’s frozen solid, still with the kiss tingling on his lips.

“We’ll talk tonight,” she says. “Goodbye girls! You be good!”

synonyms for ‘i love you’